


Safekeeping

by choked_cherry



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:13:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5811475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/choked_cherry/pseuds/choked_cherry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren's first 3 days with the Survey Corps</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safekeeping

**Author's Note:**

> -SFW, oneshot, kinda boring, honestly  
> -Just needed to get this out of my system

Eren Jaegar still had nightmares about his trial. Sometimes he was fighting back, with the kind of mindless violence that felt disturbingly good. Sometimes he was crying shrilly like a child while this monstrous figure loomed and lay into him. In his waking hours, he was still wary of Captain Levi. If the Captain made any sudden moves, he couldn't help but flinch. It was Levi's face that creeped Eren out. The expression on it was always so still, eyes unblinking, staring at him, like something dead. And Captain Levi seemed to always be staring at him. So unsettling.

By the time they'd arrived at the castle of the Survey Corps Headquarters, Eren got used to the rest of the squad rather quickly, learning their names, how long they'd been scouts, even their kill counts. And the castle was an architecture he'd never seen behind the walls. He wasn't irked at all when he learned the squad would be cleaning and sanitizing the place; good opportunity to explore. God forgive him, but he was thoroughly enjoyed being somewhere -new- for once in his life.

Eren more or less learned on the go; he learned that Captain Levi was a neat freak and he guessed that Petra had a little crush on him. But she was kind to Eren and a good communicator, able to explain the rules to him in a way he understood. With Petra teaching him, Eren learned how to complete a task in a way efficient enough to please their critical Captain. He also picked up pretty quickly on the boundaries were between Captain and Scout. Don't hassle him, because the Captain just made your life worse for it, and got off on doing it.

Cleaning the castle proved to be a monumental chore. To keep morale up, Petra reminded everyone that once the job was done they wouldn't ever be doing this again. That was until Captain Levi showed up and told everyone that the place was going to be dust-free and clean for as long as they were going to sleep here; so no. You'll be dusting for a while, so get used to it. Everyone's corresponding “Yes sir!” sounded only slightly disappointed.

At the moment, Squad Levi seemed like a weird kind of carnival family. It was Eren's understanding that most of the Scout Regiment was like that; they were close-knit, only able to rely on each other with their lives, and they were elite Titan killing machines with no apparent attachment to the safety of the inner walls. They all had reasons for venturing beyond. Madness was one reason Eren had heard of. Honour, drive, vengeance, had been a handful of others. Eren was familiar with all of it. No one asked him why Eren wanted to go beyond the walls.

What he -was- asked by several squad members later that night was, 'What's it like turning into a Titan?' Captain Levi had made it clear that his squad wasn't supposed to be asking Eren those kinds of 'triggering' questions. Only Hange was allowed to do that, because she had the equipment necessary to restrain Eren, should PTSD-like symptoms trigger his transformation.

Meeting Hange again was a treat. She seemed at ease with Captain Levi, and whatever relationship they had together, it was clear Hange tended to get what she wanted out of him. There was another example of Captain Levi's sense of humour. “You know, Eren, she might poke around in your head too much and kill you.”

“Don't be ridiculous!” Hange said, her face flushed with happiness. “As if I'd harm my best test subject.” Eren gulped as Hange ruffled his hair. She had a manic curiosity about her that made him a little uncomfortable. However, Eren remembered her kindness toward him after the trial, when she'd dressed his wounds while expressing irritation at Levi's no-holds-barred beat down of a detainee. He remembered her fingers were cool and soft against his aching, inflamed face. Hange had apologized formally. Captain Levi had not.

Although, to be fair, he seemed pleased that Eren understood why it all happened. Eren supposed that was as close to an apology as he would ever get with this man.

* * *

 

The night time routine took significant effort to get used to. Eren wasn't too thrilled about his room being in the basement of the castle HQ again. What did unnerve him were the large, cast iron chains he had to wear while he was in bed.

Captain Levi explained to Eren what was going to happen even before they left the District. Eren's room would be in the basement, and he'd be chained. He would be given 2 hours before lights out to do what he needed to; shit, shower, shave, whatever. Once the chains went on, they weren't supposed to come off until the next morning.

But the first night, Eren didn't even get any sleep; he'd been up all night picking Hange's brain about her experiments on the Titans. Ultimately, he'd learned nothing new, but he was relentlessly curious, and Hange was happy to talk to someone who seemed as interested as she was.

This was the second night, and Captain Levi had all but shuffled Eren down into the basement before Hange could debate Eren a second time. Now, in the basement, when Eren actually -saw- the chains that would be restraining him, that's when he became agitated. “I've seen lighter chains on boats.”

“We use these chains on ships and Titans.” Levi answered, and Eren couldn't tell if Levi was joking or not.

Eren absently plucked at non-existent lint on his sleeping clothes while the Captain maneuvered around the bed and attached the chains in place. The minutes ticked by and anxiousness crawled in Eren's veins. Captain Levi pulled back the covers, and Eren saw that it was a standard issue type of duvet. He was used to the scratchy, wool blankets given to cadets. Not clean, soft duvets. “That's not mine.” Eren said.

“It's Petra's. She didn't like the idea of you sleeping in a cold, dark basement without adequate cover. Something about you catching cold.” Levi made a scoffing sound.

Eren took a seat on the bed and tucked his legs underneath the duvet. So soft and warm. He sighed, as he laid his head on the pillow. He raised his left arm so his wrist could be fastened into the manacle. Levi reached over Eren's body to do it. “Remind me to thank her tomorrow.” Eren said.

“Please don't. I don't like how those girls are spoiling you.”

“I wouldn't call what Hange did to me today 'spoiling.'” Eren said, and his right arm gave a reflexive twitch in Levi's hand as it was fastened into the manacle.

For the first time since Eren had met Captain Levi, his mouth pulled to the side a little bit, in the barest trace of a smirk. “Bet you'll think twice before suggesting something like -that- to her again, hm? Raise your head.”

As Eren complied, a stutter of panic went through his chest as he vividly remembered how everyone cringed when he brightly suggested Hange observe how fast he could grow something back. It had been innocent on Eren's part... An entire night learning about Hange's various experiments on captured Titans hadn't yielded anything new, but Eren too felt his interest in the subject piqued.

The mistake had been overestimating Hange's fondness for Eren. Oh, she liked a chat, but that didn't mean she wouldn't risk losing it for a fascinating case study . Eren had smashed his thumb while repairing a wooden door in the stable, and he'd stupidly told Hange if she wanted to see how fast his thumbnail could grow back, she could yank out the rest and observe it now.

Eren should have known when Auruo, Erd and Gunther walked in laughing, and Petra skittered out, that he should have answered Hange's question in the negative: 'Are you sure, Eren?'

What a horrible idea that was.

“Don't think about it. Besides, it grew back. And you'll be much smarter next time, won't you?” Levi prompted.

Eren nodded. “I won't even tell her if I stub my toe.” He groused.

“That's the spirit.”

Eren looked up at the ceiling, firmly ignoring the coil of unease that made him ill. Having his wrists strapped down wasn't so bad, but the final, heavy manacle securing his neck in place; he felt less than human, all of a sudden. He felt like this was punishment for being born. He blinked back tears.

Levi's hand was cool on the back of Eren's neck where it smoothed Eren's hair away. The heavy middle manacle had been measured for Eren's neck, and now it sat snugly against Eren's skin. Eren realized that there had been padding tied against the iron; it felt cool but comfortable, and the same was true for both of his wrists. It wasn't at all like the restraints used on him at the trial, which had scraped layers of the skin off of his wrists. If he closed his eyes and laid still, he'd fall asleep soon, and not have to be concerned about it until morning.

At the door to Eren's room was a lit wall sconce and candle. Captain Levi pinched the lit wick with his fingers, and Eren's room was shrouded in darkness, except for the glow coming from Levi's lamp and the line sconces in the hallway.

The sound of a chair being scraped along the floor made Eren call out. “Captain?”

“I'm to monitor you while you sleep.” Levi explained, pushing the chair against the wall. Levi was just outside of Eren's room, sitting on a chair with his lamp on the ground near his legs.

“All night?”

“I'm allowed to leave if you piss yourself.”

“Oh.” Eren rolled his eyes. “Well in that case, sleep tight.” Yeah, Eren thought. Enjoy sleeping upright on a hard-ass chair in a cold, dark hallway.

Levi turned his head and gave Eren a level stare, then glanced pointedly at Eren's chains. “You too.” He said, and resumed first watch of his charge.

Eren had been busy with chores today too, not to mention the adrenaline rush of Hange's first awful experiment, so his limbs felt heavier than they were. Petra's duvet was a welcome addition to the bed he lay on. He was comfortable and warm, it was dark. The chains were upsetting, but being what he was... He understood. And before he shut his eyes, the last thing he could see was a sliver of Captain Levi's profile. For some reason, knowing he hadn't been dumped in the basement alone again left him feeling secure.

Eren was out in a matter of minutes.


End file.
